New Mexico news Story!

On the news have been threats of felony charges and Other FAA threats.......How impolite :evil: This is a transcript of the broadcast:SECTION OF KOAT DOT COM. 400 KIDS GOT LOST AT BALLOON FIESTA LAST YEAR... AND OFFICIALS DON'T WANT THAT TO HAPPEN AGAIN. YOUR SAFETY IS THEIR PRIORITY. BYRON MORTON VISITED WITH THE BALLOON FIESTA SAFETY TEAM, AND JOINS US LIVE FROM BALLOON FIESTA PARK. WITH A CROWD OF OVER 100-THOUSAND PEOPLE... OR ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF RIO RANCHO ... PACKED ONTO THIS GREEN FIELD... BALLOON FIESTA PARK... AS A SAFETY TEAM... YOU'VE GOT TO BE READY FOR ANYTHING. ...suspicious packages as well as people. BALLOON FIESTA'S DIRECTOR OF PUBLIC SAFETY... AL TETREAULT HAS HIS EYES WIDE OPEN. We can pick up little kids. We pick up the strange people. HE AND A CREW OF AT LEAST FORTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS WILL BE ON SITE AT BALLOON FIESTA PARK AT ALL TIMES. WAITING AND WATCHING. ...we have both infrared and regular cameras. We've got them all around the field. We got them on the concession row. THOSE CAMERAS FEED INTO HERE...THE COMMAND CENTER... WHERE THEY'LL BE WATCHED 24-7. AND... THEY'LL ALSO BE KEEPING AN EYE OUT FOR U-F-OS. Imagine if a pilot was taking off. He's above the crowd... fifty or a hundred feet. And...all of a sudden...one of those drones comes in and hits him. GROWING IN POPULARITY...AL AND HIS SAFETY TEAM WANT TO REMIND EVERYONE... ATTEMPTING TO FLY A DRONE WITHIN FOUR MILES AND 3-THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE PARK IS AN F-A-A VIOLATION AND WILL BE PENALIZED TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE. AND... LASTLY... THE SAFETY TEAM WANTS TO KEEP YOUR FAMILY TOGETHER. Last year...we had approximately 5-thousand children that were tagged. 4-hundred were lost, out of that. And... guess what. Those 4-hundred weren't tagged. SO, TAG YOUR TOTS RIGHT WHEN YOU GET TO THE FIELD. We want to make sure we're taking good care of the public and keeping them safe. So ...they can have a dang good time. THIS IS THE COMMAND CENTER AND AT NIGHT YOU'LL SEE A FLASHING BLUE CROSS. IF YOU'RE LOST... HURT OR SEE ANY SUSPICIOUS ACTIVITY... THIS IS WHERE YOU CAN COME FOR HELP. REPORTING LIVE FROM BALLOON FIESTA PARK. BYRON MORTON K-O-A-T ACTION 7 NEWS. TO TAG YOUR TOTS ... LOOK FOR THE BIG BLACK AND WHITE, STATE POLICE VAN IN THE CENTER OF CONCESSION ROW. OUR BALLOON

Help me, I could not find them on a real air field map, any where! It is not a real air field its a balloon Park, like A RC park? And all the real helicopters with in a half mile at times Aren't getting fines. FAA don't have a leg to stand on. A simple you not welcome, at or above the park, would have worked for me.

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The laws may actually be more strict for a balloon park than a normal airfield. In ground school you learn that the less maneuverable aircraft has the right of way. For example, a non-dirigible lighter than air craft always has the right of way because it has very limited ability to "dodge" anything. Similarly, rotary wing craft must yield to airplanes because airplanes can't stop hover in one place and must keep moving to avoid crashing.

"No drones" is pretty much consistent with existing regulations on what sort of aircraft must yield to (stay out of the way of) other aircraft. A quadcopter UAV may be considered similar to a helicopter, but if it's unmanned then it is much more likely that the pilot would be hovering somewhere where it would get hit by a balloon from behind because of restricted field of view without actual maneuvering. This is even more likely if the drone is flying purely in GPS waypoint mode.

I don't really understand the outrage here. These kinds of regs are already what existing pilots of manned aircraft have been dealing with for years and yet civil aviation and private aviation are still around.

The only reason for the "threats" is because most people with "drones" haven't been to ground school, don't know what a NOTAM is, much less to check for one, or that they'll go to jail for violating airspace reserved for an airshow even with a "model aircraft". Pilots learn about flight planning and checking these things as part of their certification process, and even serious RC aircraft hobbyists will learn this stuff so as to stay out of jail.

The current FAA advice for anyone operating under "model aircraft" guidelines is to go talk to people at a local model aircraft club for advice on how to avoid getting into trouble (which mostly involves staying under 400' AGL, but also involves staying completely out of specifically restricted areas). They've been doing this for years.

The laws may actually be more strict for a balloon park than a normal airfield. In ground school you learn that the less maneuverable aircraft has the right of way. For example, a non-dirigible lighter than air craft always has the right of way because it has very limited ability to "dodge" anything. Similarly, rotary wing craft must yield to airplanes because airplanes can't stop hover in one place and must keep moving to avoid crashing.

"No drones" is pretty much consistent with existing regulations on what sort of aircraft must yield to (stay out of the way of) other aircraft. A quadcopter UAV may be considered similar to a helicopter, but if it's unmanned then it is much more likely that the pilot would be hovering somewhere where it would get hit by a balloon from behind because of restricted field of view without actual maneuvering. This is even more likely if the drone is flying purely in GPS waypoint mode.

I don't really understand the outrage here. These kinds of regs are already what existing pilots of manned aircraft have been dealing with for years and yet civil aviation and private aviation are still around.

Thanks, and no problem. I should probably also add that I also recently learned that "model aircraft", according to FAA regs, must ALWAYS yield to manned aircraft. This is most likely true even if the manned aircraft is violating FAA regulations by flying below 500' AGL in sparsely-populated areas (for example). Generally the laws will prioritize people not getting killed over everything else, even when a manned aircraft pilot is doing something stupid, illegal, and unexpected. What happens with prosecution and conviction if a manned aircraft is breaking regulations like this and hits a "drone" I'm not sure, but whether or not the "RC model aircraft hobbyist" made a "reasonable effort" to "see-and-avoid" the manned aircraft would most likely come into play legally speaking. Whether the "model aircraft" was within "line of sight" of the "hobbyist pilot" would almost certainly come into consideration, with the RC pilot being responsible for keeping it within line-of-sight. Whether the model aircraft was within 400' of the ground or not would certainly come into play. (Oversimplification: Lowest a manned plane should fly in uncontrolled airspace over sparsely populated areas: 500' AGL, highest a model should fly 400' so there's a safety margin of 100' similar to how you have various ATC traffic separation margins.)

Disclaimer: Nothing I've said on this web site constitutes legal advice but just me passing on basic info from private pilot ground school. I personally plan to join a model aircraft club where I can get a certain amount of liability insurance as a member. Becoming a member of an FAA-recognized model aircraft club and abiding by their own self-regulation is strongly encouraged by the FAA. So don't listen to me regarding any details, but do listen to the FAA, join a major model aircraft club, listen to them, and abide by their rules. I'm not a lawyer or a regulatory authority.

Thanks, and no problem. I should probably also add that I also recently learned that "model aircraft", according to FAA regs, must ALWAYS yield to manned aircraft.

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Twice I've been at our AMA flying field when we have had to yield to manned aircraft making emergency landings on our field.

Once was a paraglider who had ran out of current, and the other time a military Blackhawk helicopter landed in the corner of our field. They were having mechanical problems and were there for over an hour before they were able to repair(?) the copter and leave. After they shut the rotors down a guy from the copter approached us, explained that they were coming from Montana to Joint Base Lewis McChord and started to have some pressure gauge issues. He asked us not to approach the copter, to stay behind our flight line, and not to fly until they had left. He was very apologetic for interrupting our flying.

Our flying field is in the foothills of the Cascade Range here in western Washington, and is the only level large clearing for several miles in each direction. It is built on the top of the old county land fill - makes for a great flying space!

Not to disagree with this event needing its air space, clear of hazards ..............BUuuuuuutttT (lol) you see the media copters flying maybe 1.5 miles out. What great role models we have.......(yes I know there distance cause I followed there lead in setting my own distance)

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Not to disagree with this event needing its air space, clear of hazards ..............BUuuuuuutttT (lol) you see the media copters flying maybe 1.5 miles out. What great role models we have.......(yes I know there distance cause I followed there lead in setting my own distance)

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They will have been in contact with the local ATC and cleared into the restricted airspace.

Not only that, but they would have had to register with the Coordinator listed (with phone number) in the NOTAM and gotten permission to essentially "be in the air show". Even with permission, they'd be subject to a bunch of rules specified by the coordinator (such as stay a certain distance from baloons, avoid certain areas entirely baloons or not, stay in contact with the coordinator via radio the whole time, etc. While I'm sure a random "drone" pilot could contact the coordinator and ask for permission, I'm quite sure they'd get a flat no especially if they hadn't even been in ground school to know what anything is or why it is that way. Anyone who was allowed to operate a drone would have to have at least been through ground school, have an FAA medical cert, and have spotters with FAA medical certifications to meet the "see and avoid" requirements that aren't met by simply having a camera on the drone. And they'd have to have a good reason other than getting some cool blog photos. At the very least it'd have to be handled like some current drone regs for police, research, etc, drone operators flying larger unmanned aircraft. (There are apparently some regs now for non-hobbyist non-commercial use of drones that don't require a rotorcraft license etc but they still require at least private pilot ground school and an FAA medical cert. I think public safety employees are allowed to use them for specific public safety functions, like searching for missing people, but are still subject to restrictions.) If nothing else, nobody is going to be allowed above 400' AGL for anything without ground school, because without ground school you likely have no idea what's going on or how to stay out of trouble above that altitude.

Not to disagree with this event needing its air space, clear of hazards ..............BUuuuuuutttT (lol) you see the media copters flying maybe 1.5 miles out. What great role models we have.......(yes I know there distance cause I followed there lead in setting my own distance)

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There have been complaints by residents on the west side of the Fiesta field about noise levels in past years. This year, the Fiesta organizers have required the news copters stay on the east side of the field, over the city.

They don't fly over the field, and instead shoot pictures from the side. They are not as close to the balloons as it might appear on TV.